SchoolMint cuts 14.5% of staff in a second round of layoffs this year, as the forecast for edtech startups looks uncertain

• Edtech startup SchoolMint has cut staff again, Insider has learned.
• These cuts were the second round of layoffs this year for the company.
• Jobs were eliminated across all departments due to a “rapidly-changing” market, sources say.

SchoolMint, an edtech startup that helps public and charter schools increase and manage student enrollment, laid off 29 full-time employees last week, accounting for 14.5% of its workforce, according to Insider.

According to multiple sources familiar with the layoffs, this is not the first time SchoolMint has reduced head count this year. In March of this year, the company cut a similar number of jobs. According to sources, 11 open positions were not filled in the most recent round. Several company-wide initiatives were now “complete,” according to official communication from the company to non-affected employees about the layoffs.

According to sources and LinkedIn data, SchoolMint had over 250 employees prior to these layoffs. SchoolMint stated in a blog post in June that it had 200 employees. The most recent round of layoffs occurred last week. Employees who were affected were notified via email, citing the company’s “rapidly changing market.” This was in contrast to the initial round of layoffs in March, when employees received one-on-one phone calls from managers and an HR representative breaking the news, according to a former employee.

SchoolMint was founded in 2013 and received seed funding in 2014 from investors such as NewSchools Venture Fund, the partners of which later formed Reach Capital and led SchoolMint’s subsequent Series A round. The company also went through Imagine K-12, an edtech startup accelerator that merged with Y Combinator in 2016. SchoolMint was acquired by the private equity firm BV Investment Partners in 2017.

The SchoolMint layoffs come at an uncertain time for the edtech market, as the sector’s pandemic-induced capital boom has slowed. According to Insider, the first half of 2023 saw only $1.8 billion in global edtech venture funding, which was less than half of the total for the first half of 2022, which was $4.5 billion.

Other edtech companies, including unicorns Paper and Byju’s, have also laid off employees this year.

SchoolMint has not been immune to the broader edtech market’s uncertainty. A former employee told Insider that the organization had undergone companywide changes in the previous year, including a reorganization of talent. According to a company blog post, the company relocated its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Lafayette, Louisiana in 2020, and the new offices were completed in May 2023.

Former employees have expressed dissatisfaction with the company’s multiple reorganizations, particularly the increase in workload following the first round of layoffs, according to Glassdoor reviews on SchoolMint.

“It’s never felt like there’s been clarity or transparency,” a former employee told Insider.

SchoolMint’s spokesperson declined to comment.